Hunting For Wonder In Western New York
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery

Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester, New York has all the right stuff for gravers: the cemetery dates back to the late 1800’s; it has some beautiful angels and peaceful lush grounds including some resident deer. In any given plot is plenty to capture, but in this visit I tried the Read more…


The Pinkglow Pineapple ๐Ÿ’—๐Ÿ

Discovering the Pinkglow Pineapple in the local Wegmans was pretty exciting. I had never seen it before! Though I guess it’s a bit of a “thing,” yes. But its gorgeous hue and midcentury packaging inspired a quick vintage fruit salad photoshoot. The inside. Gorgeous fruit… How beautiful is this? Inspiration Read more…


๐Ÿฅ•๐Ÿ‡ Easter Pictorial ๐Ÿฃ๐Ÿงบ๐Ÿ’–

Evidence of the Easter bunny. Making baskets. Easter pancakes. Totally not vegan baskets. Easter, part 2 in the backyard. Making Easter bonnets! Hope you had a Happy Easter!


Hunting For Wonder In Western New York
Highland Park Blossoms

After spending the afternoon in Rochester’s Highland Park, I told my guy it was like the equivalent of New York’s Central Park. As it turns out it was designed by the same man who designed the iconic Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted–the founder of American landscape architecture. As I tend Read more…


Hunting For Wonder in Western New York
Owl Woods, Braddock Bay Wildlife Management Area ๐Ÿฆ‰

Braddock Bay in northwest Rochester has a special draw. A hiking trail popular with bird lovers runs through Owl Woods. Here, owls make a roosting pit stop, resting and eating before a long migratory flight over Lake Ontario. Determined to make use of every day of my spring break, I Read more…


The Magnolias in Green-Wood Cemetery

The Magnolias flower early in the Spring and I look forward to seeing them in Green-Wood Cemetery every year. After work, when I needed them most, their peak beauty lured me in. And because my lens seems to turn them into delicate watercolors, most of my time was spent under Read more…


Vegan Easter Rainbow Cookies
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Vegan Easter Rainbow Cookies
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I’ve made rainbow cookies for many holidays, but this is my first batch of Easter cookies! Easter is all about the pastels… and I am on board. To follow, my usual recipe in this beauteous color combination…


New York City’s Historical Wonder Theatres
Kings Theatre, Brooklyn

The New York City area’s five opulent Wonder Theatres all opened in the late 1920’s–during the hey day of vaudevillian performances and onward into the golden age of cinema. Though it sat abandoned for four decades, the fully renovated Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre would be my first stop on my goal Read more…


Simple Loaf Bakeshop
Park Slope, Brooklyn

I was delighted to learn of some vegan pastry options at a nearby bakeshop. With Brooklyn errands on the agenda, I would get my carb fix from Simple Loaf Bakeshop in Park Slope. Though I really wanted to try their vegan babka, they were out. I “settled” for a slice Read more…


Textbook’s Vegan Fried Chicken Sandwich
Fort Greene, Brooklyn

Textbook‘s vegan fried chicken sandwich got ushered to the top of my “to try” list when I put together a new Fried Chicken Showdown bracket. Anticipation… the fonts help me know attention would be paid to details. Made in haste, the $5 lemonade was not the best choice. It was Read more…


March Outtakes

March’s wrath is officially over. It is a tough month; but it’s the portal to summer. To follow some highlights that cannot be sorted elsewhere… The cookie that can get me through an 8-hour day. Yardsale‘s vegan pistachio chocolate chip… Ok, this is also work-related. Because March is one of Read more…


Vegan Hummingbird Cake ๐Ÿฅฅ๐Ÿ๐ŸŒ

Every once and a while I get the urge to make a Hummingbird cake. So first, some pretty dried pineapple flowers the day before. They make a beautiful edible garnish. Elapsed time… and now ready for a photoshoot. The recipe made tons of batter. Half of it would have been Read more…


A Batch of S’mores Cupcakes {Pictorial}


Beach House
Abandoned in the Sand


Another Amazing Yellow Cake!

I’m kind of obsessed with this recipe now. So I just had to whip my classroom’s paraprofessional up a great birthday cake since she is a big fan of my treats. Three layers so I can taste one… Yellow as ever Pipe dreams Now, a lot of pictures of its Read more…


Gluten-free Strawberry Sugar Cookies ๐Ÿ“

When I walked past this tower of strawberries priced at $1, I knew I would be making the pretty strawberry sugar cookies I saw on Lane & Grey Fare‘s account a couple of weeks ago. Ready to be cookies… The recipe is packed with sugar! Sugar when cooking the strawberries, Read more…


New York Botanical Garden
The Orchid Show

Wanting Spring faster, I headed over to The Bronx for New York Botanical Garden‘s Orchid Show. Though most of the grounds were still barren and wintery, it was nice to see some crocuses and flowering trees starting to rear their colorful heads. But I was mostly inside the humid and Read more…


J’s On the Bay
More Vegan Ops on Staten Island

Out of all of New York City’s boroughs, Staten Island is the one I seem to be on the most. Besides the fact that it is just a few minutes away from me, I have a thing for reporting on their evolving vegan options. This time it would be a Read more…


๐ŸŽฉ๐ŸŒˆโ˜˜๏ธ Happy St. Patrick Day ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช

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March is has been jam-packed… and so it is flying fast–much to my satisfaction. But I am baking through the month’s milestones. This time: St. Patrick’s Day. Irish Soda Bread is a simple favorite of mine. This loaf, adapted from Nora Cook’s recipe, would be the vibrant hue of the Read more…


Finally, A Vegan Option at Levain Bakery

I was really excited to learn that Levain Bakery‘s vegan option was now available! I knew the iconic NYC bakery had a version in the works as I inquired a few years ago. But I admit that I was a little less excited when I read that the option would Read more…


ฯ€ Vegan Pi Day Pictorial ฯ€


Finally, An Easter Wreath ๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฅ•๐Ÿ’

As you may know, I love to craft holiday wreaths! The prospect of creating one for Easter was always alluring given the color scheme and icons of the season. So when my Mom asked for one, I had the motivation I needed to pull it off. I gathered supplies and Read more…


Mom’s Birthday Cake
Vintage Duncan Hines Style

This nostalgic yellow cake with fudgy chocolate buttercream was by request from my Mom. And what my Mom wants, she gets! Using this great recipe from Nora Cooks, I got that vintage look I wanted… reminiscent of the boxed cake by Duncan Hines I used to love. What a dreamy Read more…


Staten Island Water Tower

After some errands in New Jersey, by way of Staten Island, I did what I usually do when I have to come through. I hit Pastosa in Eltingville for vegan ravioli and I found something to take pictures of. I had put this water tower on my list of things Read more…


Waiting For the Worm Moon

In the two full moons that have occurred since I got a new telephoto lens I wound up on my porch in my robe to see what it can do. Because full moon photography is one of the only dark sky photography that is gratifying in New York City, I Read more…


Miscellaneous Rochester Outtakes

I knew when the snow was falling I had to see this angel. Holy Sepulchre‘s gorgeous Corona/Di Cesare angel. So much fluffy show How I look in the morning LOL Miscellaneous droids I liked Scenes from Krudco Skate Shop